


have it in a way

by Black, smooshkin



Series: KingSlayer [8]
Category: Deus Ex (Video Games), Deus Ex: Blacklight, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Genre: David Sarif gets topped, Fingering, M/M, Sexual Content, and makes a lot of noise, art included
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 17:40:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11925921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black/pseuds/Black, https://archiveofourown.org/users/smooshkin/pseuds/smooshkin
Summary: an emotional phone call and an equally emotional reunion





	1. but who was phone

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for the delay in uploading! things have been all over the place lately. 
> 
> i hope you enjoy these two, i really like them and just got emotional reading back through the again lol  
> these two boys have come so far
> 
> my muse has never loved another like this before. he's always felt incomplete and chewed at me. with Smoosh's Sarif he just feels whole. 
> 
> In this one I start with Adam, Smooshkin follows with Sarif

= * =

 

Oh, Detroit.   
  
Adam takes a drag from his cigarette - shaky. It’s curling in, now. the ruin. the ruin. his eyes are hazy and they haven’t quite forgotten the horrific shit they’ve seen - god, where did he even start?  
  
It’s been chewing.  
and chewing.  
and chewing.  
  
Things have been chewing - ever since he’s woken up he’s had a slew of thoughts, a fucking slaughter of them. Who's had him, why did they have him, who touched him, Megan, Pritchard, the illuminati and -- David Sarif.   
  
Oh, David.   
  
He’s - He’s wanted to reach out. He has. But with so many unanswered questions, it’s swirled a slew of paranoia up within him. his augs are heavy. they feel heavier. he’s so fucking heavy. he had found a chip buried in his arm and crushed it. angry. violated. a hollow hole punched in his gut.  
  
It all smelled like stagnant, rot. He glances to the doorway and sees it peeking around, it’s hollow eyes and chattering teeth a racket in his head, heart. heart. did they take that too? plant something there too?   
  
Hm.  
  
Adam fights the urge to claw at it -   
It laughs.   
  
The smoke billows from his nose - he puffs it out like an irate dragon and snuffs the dying flame under his boot. Adam sighs, short and sharp. nervous. He must...Pritchard must have noticed heaviness and connected the glaring fact that he and David were ( _are?_ ) something. He was pushing Adam to call him - something about the connection is secure idiot who do you think i am and   
  
Adam has to agree - for as paranoid as he is, he thinks Pritchard may be twice as riled up.   
  
“Alright,” He says upon walking back in and glancing out over the rows and rows of dead seats, splitting at the seams and he could almost relate. There’s a fluttering in his chest. He had broken his promise - he hadn’t returned to collect him from hell. He hadn’t been able to -  
  
He swallows, “I’m ready.”  
  
_Please -- don’t be upset with me._

 

= * =

 

Pritchard had noticed. A lot of them had. But he had to admit what sealed the notion into fact was-- That damn jacket. Now that Jensen was _here_ of all places, Pritchard would have felt a rightedness in returning to him the jacket he'd saved from the man's office, among other things.   
  
But David had been so pitiful over it all that Pritchard had insisted he take it. The relief on the man's face all but confirmed the _something_ he had nagging suspicions over for months.   
  
Pritchard even managed to find it a little heartbreaking at the time.   
  
Now that Adam was back from the dead, he insisted he call him. I have his information. I still do work for him. He's still the same Sarif. He's still the way you remember him- just call the bastard!   
  
Pritchard had assumed he'd lost that fight a few hours ago. Whatever reason Adam had, Pritchard found him even more hard to read these days and so left the mystery to stand.   
  
Adam was... troubled anyway. Even Pritchard had compassion enough not to stack more upon said troubles.   
  
But he came back in. Said he wanted to. Damn, really?   
  
"Oh, alright." Pritchard feigns irritation. He hadn't spoken to David since before Adam resurfaced (almost literally, he mused) and so this would be-- Pritchard wasn't sure he could bring himself to watch in the case he was. You know. _Correct_ about their feelings. Pfuh.   
  
Bloody romance, right?

He keeps the camera trained on himself- not wanting all-out-chaos to erupt before he can explain.   
  
"Hey, Frank." Came a familiar midwest drawl and Pritchard presses one of his monitors on the corner toward Adam.   
  
It was, indeed, David, with approximately no more silver in his hair than before as Adam might recall. He was sitting, a gilded hand (well- that's new) propping his chin up. It was evening where he was.   
  
Pritchard felt his hair stand on end as he answers.   
  
"David. Ah--..." He furrows his brows. The words leave him. Ok, what _does_ he say? How _does_ he explain this? You know what- christ- let them figure it out.   
  
A few seconds pass and David glanced nervously sidelong, brow raised, then back. "Yeah?"   
  
"Look who's here." Is all Pritchard can manage; Wiggling a finger at Adam and beckoning him closer as he turns the lens toward him before he could change his mind or anything stupid and Jensen-y happened.   
  
And, expectedly, David is the picture of bewilderment. His fingers lose their traction on his chin and fall as he's officially spellbound.   
  
No, he can't say a word.   
  
Pritchard felt like he'd cast some spell with his words and finds himself glancing at Adam just to make sure time hadn't stopped on him again. Because David wasn't even blinking- the only thing giving away the continuation of the space-time continuum was the slight parting of his lips as some distant synapse urged him to want to speak.

 

= * =

 

Adam is haunted.  
Headstones and headaches - a hot pulsing behind his eyes and he’s really wanting a cup of coffee to nurse right now. The graveyard had spat him back out - watery and cold. iced in his veins. he wanted something to warm him.  
  
he hadn’t found it, yet.   
  
Pritchard spits out a bite of irritation and all Adam can do is give him a tired, too tired look. He swears he can feel the exhaustion heavy in all of his joints. He swears it. Synthetic or not, he knows that stutter when he curls his fingers inward.   
  
Adam offers a soft “thanks” as he stands back and allows Pritchard to be the first face of contact. He didn’t want to start David upon pick up - Adam was a fucking ghost. Presumed dead - swallowed by the pinnacle of cold, watery hell. The building had collapsed upon him and he remembers Eliza chirping out something and then the burning rush of salt through his lungs and stomach and throwing it back up and his augs just couldn’t handle the pressure he had felt things   
  
pop,  
crack,  
fold under the weight of water and misery.   
everything dark.  
  
Adam had thought of Sarif, in death.  
He had made his peace.  
  
The lens back and looking up and up and maybe he could swim but everything had gotten so tight and painful and cold and the sentinel had shrieked in his ears and his HUD had CRITICAL FAILURE plastered everywhere and he would have   
  
laughed, if it hadn’t meant choking salt.

Pritchard angles the camera up at him and beckons him forward and Adam can feel his heart clatter up into his throat. Maybe they hadn’t stolen it - It’s a wild pattering thing. writhing.  
  
He has to swallow it back down.  
  
Adam looks over him, eyes jumping from the familiar silver of his hair to the new, elegant hands. to the same eyes he was so fond of. Adam thinks he may be looking into his own. Tired, too tired. They bloom some warmth in his chest - some shaking longing in his skin. Oh,  
  
“David,” he manages out as he approaches and he furrows his brows a bit as he gets no response. Adam doesn’t blame him; it’s hard enough to look at him let alone speak to him. He can barely get his own words out. he clenches his fists and tastes the smoke on his tongue, a comfort in the moment.   
  
He -  
  
…  
  
“ _Love_ ,” He tries softly, Pritchard’s presence escaping him for a moment, “I-”

 

= * =

 

Pritchard looks down at his feet. Yeah- he had been right. This wasn't casual enough. The silence alone gave it away and he turned away in his chair.  
  
Better yet, he stood up, wiped his face anxiously and rolled the seat by the back toward Adam in case he needed it while he ambled toward the sofa and sat. At least he got Adam to call him. He knew this was just what David needed.   
  
Whatever hex of silence Pritchard had cast, seemed to be broken when Adam spoke the counter-spell.   
  
Sarif drew a sharp breath upon hearing his name and he- sat up another inch- leaned forward.   
  
"Adam."   
  
His hand, seeking something, went to his jaw and clasped tight. The other was angled as if waiting to catapult him from his seat.   
  
His eyes seemed to hurriedly trace every little cluster of precious detail he could.   
  
'Love' seemed to cast another spell. This time David's brows knit into a frown and he- almost immediately- seemed to cry. He covered his own mouth and sighed quickly.   
  
That didn't last- though his hands couldn't decide where they wanted to settle. They wrung together in front of his chest.   
  
"They to-old me..." His voice was all breath, and he tried again. "They told me you were dead. Couldn't find your-..."   
  
Body.

He gasps, squeezing his fingers. "Oh- god- Adam-- 'scuse me." He quickly looks down- audibly swallowing and dragging an augmented _left_ hand over his eyes.   
  
"I'm so-- I'm so happy to see you, son." A much tinier voice than even Pritchard would have ever expected to hear from David Sarif, causing him to look up and watch the door blankly with ghost pain.   
  
David looks back up, mesmerized. God, is it really him? This changes everything. And yet, too much to be able to wrap his head around it. Nothing came to mind. But he was sure this changed everything.

 

= * =

 

his lens slide back, off of his eyes and he  
lets the lover linger there. the humanity flood back.   
  
the shaking thing in his skin crawls to a tremble and there’s a scatter in his hands that he lets rattle for a moment. He breathes in. holds it. and exhales hard through his nose. Adam’s eyes soften - something that hasn’t happened since waking. He’s been all ice - still held hard by the ocean.   
  
he had began to wonder if they had _really_ pulled him out…?  
  
Adam swallows and looks over David.  
closely, now.   
all the stress and pain and loneliness in his face so much evident as he breaks. the single word is too much to handle - Adam feels his chest cave again. the same as when he had taken in lungfuls of salt water. Except this time he can’t vomit up the pressure.   
  
His tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth and his teeth find his bottom lip for a moment, brows furrowing. “I...I know they did,” he says softly, looking into his eyes and rolling his wrists, “I’m so sorry, David.” The words are fuzzy - he’s not used to saying them.   
  
“I was - supposed to come back and --”   
  
He hates this.   
He _hates_ this.  
  
“...and I-”  
  
He loses his train of thought as David cries, making those tiny huffs and heart breaking noises that he was so unfamiliar with. Adam was used to seeing him stand tall, strong. A lion heading his pride; wise and wary - prey scattering at the sight.   
  
David had lost everything.  
  
“I’m...happy to see you too,” He reassures, softly, “I’m here now.” Adam’s voice turns on the cusp of a whisper - afraid if he says it too loud than the fever dream will shatter and he’ll _wake up_ again cold angry and alone.   
  
He moves a little closer, “I’m…”

Okay?  
No.   
He couldn’t say that yet.

  
“I’m here, alright?”   
  
He wants so badly to wrap his arms around him and pull him close and _Adam wants to be warm_ he wants to feel it bury under his skin and bloom and he wants to feel some semblance of _normal_ again, “and they can’t take me, not again.”   
  
He narrows his eyes, a curl of determination burying beneath his teeth. No. Not when David _needed_ him.

 

= * =

 

David stares- completely transfixed as the apparition speaks. He can't even drum up the right words to answer 'sorry' with. Adam has... no reason to be sorry.  
  
Adam struggles to get the next words out and David quickly, puts his hands upon whatever his own display sat on.   
  
"Oh, no- no- no--" He soothed.   
  
"Adam-..." He murmurs- but wasn't really sure how to put form to his thoughts.   
  
There were times he had thought that he'd caused this by doubting him when he left to put a stop to the signal. He's going to die, David thought. He's going to die and I won't know it or see it and I'll never see him again.   
  
Self-fulfilled prophecy.   
  
Punishment for his hubris.   
  
Hah! How dare you, David. Think that you could pull another miracle from the brimstone at the cost of Adam's skin. Cover it all in pretext, David Sarif, but you're selfish, selfish, selfish. Sacrifice yourself next time, coward.   
  
Coward.   
  
David swallowed when Adam told him he was here, bringing his eyes to focus as well. They narrowed and his forehead creased dramatically as he frowned. He mirrors Adam and leans in.   
  
"I can't-." He drew his lips as he swallowed _again_ ; _more_ tears.   
  
"I can hardly believe it." He sighs daring to feel, truly, happy. Relieved. Technicolour from monochrome.   
  
Was this like a second chance? David felt like the way a deer might have felt stepping into a clearing; Out of the trees.   
  
"I love you." He says airily, shaking his head from side-to-side.   
  
"Where have you b--? When can I-?"

 

= * =

 

Adam quiets.   
  
He vacates for a moment.  
Thinking back on his great fall -  
  
the writhing darkness. whipping about and swallowing him. Icarus had fallen into the sea, and the sea hadn’t wanted to give him back. Who had stolen him? he furrows his eyes as he dwells on it.   
  
his chest twists sharp as he thinks of the Hyron.  
the pleading.  
  
help us.  
help us.  
_it hurts, Jensen._  
  
it had shaken him - made him sick. he had been relieved that David hadn’t come with him, didn’t have to be subjected to such a fucking - he didn’t even know what to call it. the thought catches in his throat and he looks like he’s in pain. something foreign washes over his face and he turns himself from the monitor for a few moments.  
  
to recollect.  
  
he glances over at Pritchard and shares the look unknowingly, before dragging it back in. Adam turns back to the happiness at hand and offers the ghost a smile, a fleeting thing. “I love...you too,” he offers slow, soft, soothing. something he’s missed.   
  
he had woken up cold, alone, and angry.  
angry.  
snapped from David’s loving embrace in limbo and he had made his peace. he had loved, and had been loved.   
  
He should thank them, though.  
Adam knows that they’re trying to use him - that they’ve wormed something deep in his augs and they’re trying to - he doesn’t _know_. but he _knows_.   
  
Adam wouldn’t allow them - he would use them in return.   
  
They had rebuilt his wings and dried the feathers.  
wrapped them with something stronger than wax.

“It’s not safe yet.” Adam’s shoulders drop and he crosses his tired arms over his chest, watching the desperate _want for him_ swallow David’s face. He - Oh. His chest clatters with an ache, “I...I’ll come, when it is.”   
  
he pauses, and then softly, “love.”  
  
Adam needs another cigarette, he thinks. Wrapped hard in different functions, foregoing familiarization. He’ll spend the night awake, eyes trained to the ceiling as he suffers cold again in the theatre seats.

  
Longing for his head to find a familiar, warm shoulder...

= * =


	2. boy they bang alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and the introduction into Mumbai!  
> where our current plot is taking place. 
> 
> This takes place after MD ;v; aka Adam realizes how much of an idiot he is and just wants to go home to his bf. 
> 
> Smoosh starts with Sarif, and I follow in with Adam.
> 
> \+ art by Smooshkin he did when we were talking about a plot in Mumbai. David Sarif is fucking cute?? look at his ear piercings.
> 
> He also has a ton of other Deus Ex art at his [tumblr](http://smooshkin.tumblr.com/tagged/Deus-Ex) (there is nsfw) so if you haven't seen it and like our Jensif stuff, check it out. c:

  
( [read more about it here!](https://smooshkin.deviantart.com/art/fully-equipped-area-51-alien-fruit-flies-682063294) )

 

=*=

 

David tried not to let Adam's resurfacing distract him. Oh- but it did.  
  
He felt weeks go by without him- but _with him_ in some abstract way. All the things he'd done the last two years- it was all fantasy. Because there was no animating a dead man back to life-- Well, not like this.  
  
It was all fantasy in which Adam could never join him again. He was forever doomed to aloneness. Sitting across from an empty seat at the cafe. Sleeping next to an empty side of the bed. Sitting across from him in the VTOL. Tucking him against his side.  
  
David found life suddenly took on new meaning at the mere _possibility_ reintroduced to his every activity that, yes, Adam was alive and could be there.  
  
He isn't yet. But he could be.  
  
That was enough for now.  
  
He begged Pritchard to make sure he'd keep himself and Adam safe. Pritchard had followed Adam to Prague to do just that.  
  
He had sent Malik (god bless her loyalty; She came when he called) to Prague today to fetch them. Plus one, apparently.  
  
He'd made arrangements with the complex to clear more units. Just two. Adam would stay with him, he resolved.  
  
He'd had enough of being apart and he'd tell him this much. Share everything, he found himself telling himself. No lying, no secrets, no- anything. He couldn't bear the idea of chasing him away with another mistake.  
  
India was, as any day, warm today. This high up on the complex, where the helipads were, afforded something of a breeze from the Arabian sea. Mumbai extended up around him but- the view of the sea was unmarred.

He could hardly bear the view right now, however, and was on the other end of the small airfield, watching the city. Directly below were two buddhist temples. He visited once. It was pleasant and... peaceful.  
  
The tranquil memory had since been tainted however- that was the day he realized he couldn't live without his security team. Not more than a couple blocks away, someone hadn't been so friendly.  
  
Not everyone in India was friendly to augs. Even if it was full of Buddhists and Hindus and all that ahimsa stuff he'd been reading about.  
  
Horrifically, there were some religious fanatics that considered augs to be unliving machines, unworthy of sacred non-violence. Yeah.  He learned that in trial-by-fire.  
  
The bruises were still there to remind him of his fear of the city sprawling around him. This little spire of Eden where no one could touch him.  
  
Or, at least, no one had yet. He had even hired private dabbawalla to deliver his meals, vetted by the two women and their brother he'd hired as private security.  
  
He sighed heavily, running a hand over his hair to smooth it. The breeze immediately undid his weak effort. It tugged at his collar.  He had undone the first two buttons of his shirt. Floral and white- for the Indian summer sun.  
  
Nothing could stop him from his usual black trousers, though.

Devi, one of his security, stood nearby holding his suit jacket. It was just too hot for it and she folded it neatly over her arm.  
  
"Mr. Sarif." She offered, in her charmingly thick accent.  
  
David could only look at his feet when he heard the VTOL. It was Malik, of course. Her engine had a unique purr.

 

=*=

 

Adam is anxious.  
How strange.  
For all the insanity in the world - that he’s faced over his time spent chasing darkness, one VTOL ride almost unravels him. He had finally agreed that it was time - fuck - he had called David and told him it was time. Informed Pritchard that yes, they were finally leaving Prague. And then went to fetch Václav.  
  
The kid has been been fidgeting with an aug when he came down to see him - Adam had expected to fight tooth and nail to get him out of that...dungeon. He had pitched the idea, crossed his arms over his chest, and narrowed his eyes to stand his ground and -  
  
“Oh thank _fuck_ ,” Koller had wheezed, letting the aug clatter noisily to his table as he stood up, “I...fuck, Adam. Yeah, get me the fuck outta here man.” Adam must have visibly startled because Václav had just blown a huff through his nose and punched him in the shoulder - before scrambling to get everything pulled together and ready to go.  
  
Guitar in hand and backpack pulled on - Koller said goodbye to his beloved chair and Adam, well -  
  
Adam was just thankful he packed light and didn’t put up any semblance of a fight.  
  
Malik had come to get them soon after Adam got back with his plus one - tossing a smile at Pritchard as he bitched about great now we’re gonna get hotboxed on the way over and Koller vehemently defending himself on _im not going to smoke on the VTOL thank you very much you asshole_ and he can hardly  
  
focus. everything is scattered. he can barely concentrate and tenses a bit as Malik grabs the back of his arm. squeezes a bit. “hey big guy, don’t sweat it. i’ll get you back home in one piece.”

Home.  
He teethed the word as she pulled up and away from Prague - grey and angry. it’s veins cracked and congested with police brutality and bombs. bodies and bags alike. Prague had - Prague had definitely touched upon him. The train station bombing. Viktor. Daria. He sighed through his nose and looks at Koller - headphones in and eyes closed. curled around his only possessions without a care for the place he was leaving and -  
  
It drags on.  
  
Adam glances at Pritchard a few times before he closes his eyes. He doesn’t sleep - can’t sleep. Too jittery. His augs tremble in the slightest and he’s eager. A rush of something he hasn’t felt in - well, since Detroit. Since before he died, again. he flexes his hands and curls his fingers into his palms. listens to them. feels them whir. hum.  
  
he had - come to loathe them again. After Koller had almost _melted_ him. They had been tampered with, no wonder they had felt so heavy. that night he had looked in the mirror and felt a hatred that hadn’t bubbled since the first time he had broken his bathroom mirror. tore himself apart.  
  
Adam well.  
Adam still avoids mirrors.  
  
It’s not as hard to look now, but he’d rather not.  
He had gotten used to them, only to feel violated again. only to feel the run of hands up, down, and across him at night. sick.  
  
“We’re here!” Malik chirps with laughter as she hovers over the helipad and starts her descent - Adam startles and sits up straight, Ah. Maybe he...had fallen asleep. He swallows tight, trying to clear the thickness from his throat as he comes back to the world. comes back to his world.  
  
…  
  
The wait for the VTOL doors to open is torturous - shame and anxiety are but a distant thought as he stands up and makes his way through the opening doors. into the bright sun. the warm air. still dressed thick in his jacket - deciding that the heat was bothersome could wait. _it could wait_.

He lays eyes on Sarif and  
swallows tight. frozen to the spot for a moment before he’s near barrelling over - not even waiting for a proper greeting before he’s got arms around him and lifting him. the rush of being able to touch him sends a clatter through his augs; everything is fuzzy in his fingertips and he doesn’t even take time to take in how _beautiful_ Mumbai is -  
  
only how _right_ it feels to kiss David, again.  
  
Devani, his other security, tenses as Adam approaches but - calms only when she exchanges looks with her sister. her shoulders ease, a bit. Mr. Sarif had warned them of this, had warned him that one of his guests may be _very_ happy to see him.  
  
Well, he wasn’t lying.

 

=*=

 

Pritchard fought himself to stay awake most of the way before giving in near the end.  
  
He. Didn't prefer Koller but had to admit, the kid was valuable and- protest all he might- he's glad the little nerd was coming with. David could find a use for him. He was good. Obnoxious but talented.  
  
He passed out wondering what India was like. Better than Prague, he hoped. He wasn't sure Prague was better than Detroit or worse- but he supposed following Adam around was also better than getting kicked around by gangsters, really.  
  
Come what may.  
  
David Sarif had promised himself he'd try to be as dignified as possible in front of his security. But, let's be honest with ourselves, he overestimated himself a little.  
  
He turns to watch it land, trying to keep his hands folded neatly behind him.  
  
He managed that for all of three seconds when he sees his Adam again--  
  
"There he is-!"  
  
He takes an anxious step (was this a damn dream?) extending his arms at his approach and, quite bruisingly, wraps them around him.  
  
He squeezes hard enough to make even himself groan into the kiss he quite earnestly returned- a delighted sound to follow when he finds his heels leave the ground.  
  
He simply can't hold him tight enough- scared to let go and lose a grip on fantasy made real. He- Okay, David, are you crying again?

Yeah, you are. In front of the gals too, look at you, ya mess.  
  
He tries to get traction on the ground, giving Adam an excitable shake with his arms as he'd press his forehead hard against his. Not that he could manage that for long before he's trying to kiss him again.  
  
Pritchard stumbled out of the VTOL, hand still hooked around a haft on the frame when he saw the exchange and- Wow. It was so- shocking? Shocking. To see it first-hand.  
  
He wasn't _complaining_ or anything. It was just oddly...relieving. Some alignment of nature satisfied him. Even somber bastard Adam had a place to be and apparently it was with David godamn Sarif. Ok, _really_ , who would have guessed that. Anyone?  
  
He glanced at Koller-- would look around for Malik.  
  
Devi, hands on her hips, smirked, David's jacket still dangling neat from her wrist.  She stepped up near her sister and exchanged the glance.  
  
At least her depressive employer had company now. Poor guy.  
  
David, meanwhile, pulled his mouth away just long enough to clap his hands on either side of Adam's jaw.  
  
He grinned hard.  
  
What was there to say? I missed you? You look good?  
  
Instead he opted for pulling him close again and burying his face against his neck- defying the heat of the air. This mattered more.  
  
He sighs tersely.  
  
"God-- Adam..." He murmurs.

 

=*=

 

Adam strangles some pitiful noise in his throat as he kisses him.  
But goddamn, does he kiss him.  
Tilts his head and deepens it near immediately. the arm around his torso tightens and the one around his waist loops under him to keep him up, pressed against him. Like hell he was going to let him go now.  
  
Like fucking hell.  
  
Adam brings the hand from his torso up to cup his cheek, thumb stroking under his eye to catch the tears that had started. No, no more crying. I’m here now - I’m here. Sarif presses their foreheads together and Adam can’t help but to  
  
smile, genuine. corporeal. it curls in his eyes and the lover blooms in them. warm, writhing, happy. _happy?_ yes, happy. Adam, you deserve to be happy.  
  
Koller had followed Pritchard out - still half asleep. This was the first time in fuck - two? three? days he had been able to knock out without worry of the Dvali creeping up on him. “Mm?” he sees Pritchard pause and furrows his brows before follow his gaze and  
  
Oh.  
  
“Holy fuck,” he firmly grabs Pritchard’s arm to steady himself before realizing his mistake and letting go, “They’re a _thing?_ ” he brings the offending hand up to run through his hair, fighting off the half-sleep embarrassment, “why did you not fucking tell me man?”  
  
Not that he’s uh, you know, _too_ surprised. He was able to fuckin tell Adam was gay as hell within five minutes of meeting him - but with _the_ David Sarif? he tugs at his hair a bit, shaking his head.  
  
Malik comes around to meet them, lips curling into a near smirk as she pulls the flightsuit down from her shoulders, tying it around her waist in the Mumbai heat, “What have I been telling you for years, Pritch?” A hand on her hip, the other loosely hanging at her side, “A thing.” she motions at them.

She - almost feels relieved? The world felt righted with Adam back by Sarif’s side. The man had been so depressed - she hadn’t known what to say or do for him. She knew he had missed Jensen. Knew. They belonged together, it was strange to bear witness to something so _right_.  
  
Adam groans - soft and pitiful. his hand slides from his cheek to bury in his hair, tangle there. he presses Sarif’s head moreso into his neck and rests his cheek on the top of his head, giving a tense, shaky sigh. “David - I love you,” a quiet mutter, just for him. no hesitation. he turns his head to press a soft kiss to his hair, burying against it and closing his eyes.  
  
the weight in his arms - he’s brought back to Paris.  
when he began to feel right. when he began to miss this. _this_.  
  
“I’m _right here_ ,” he murmurs low and reassuring, squeezing him gently, “I’m not leaving.”

 

=*=

 

David feels a burn in his face as he's compelled to wrap his legs around Adam's. The man wasn't letting him back to the ground and-- Mmph.  
  
He bears part of the weight (not that Adam needed the help) by wrapping his arms around his shoulders.  
  
Adam smiles and he _really_ can't help but give him a pearly one back. He wonders how he's managed not to split his poor kid's lip with how excited he was over his offered kiss.  
  
Pritchard made a disgusted face, pulling his arm away from Koller's offensive little hand.  
  
"Because, weedy, it was strictly need-to-know and- well- now you know." He answers derisively, through a curled lip; Which vanished the moment Malik appeared and his shoulders raise a fraction.  
  
He half expected her to hit him. She didn't. He visibly relaxes.  
  
"Whatever." He snaps. "So, you were right. Congratulations, that must be an _entirely_ new and gratifying experience for you."   He was baiting a response. A bit masochistically, perhaps-- he missed Malik's well-intentioned bullying.  
  
He smirks at her- nose wrinkling as though he were proud of himself. He then turns to look at Koller.  
  
"Quit staring, perv." He teases, giving the kid a playful _whap_ on the back of the head and then trying to hide the fact he was nursing his hand afterwards. Woops, forgot about that.  
  
David, meanwhile, heaves a heavy sigh through his nose into Adam's neck. He was-- happy. He pinches his eyes shut. "Love you." He echoes quietly.

And, he's embarrassed because he's still crying- Adam is still talking and- My god, he's overwhelmed with joy. He finds himself so affected that he looks up momentarily at the sky. There's no damn god up there but whatever brought his Adam back was worthy of some measure of devotion.  
  
He presses his mouth to his pulse.  
  
"Mmph.." He grunts, brows curling into a frown. He squeezes Adam tighter and would have been content just like this for as long as Adam would have him.  
  
Before eventually he'd let himself drop back to the ground- quickly drying his eyes so Adam wouldn't have to fuckin' see him look any more pathetic than he already was. He'd sniff.  
  
He couldn't find the words again. What gives, David? He could hardly look at him- If he did, they'd never get anything done. He just wanted to push him to the ground and tangle up and never let go.  
  
"So uh--..." He cleared his throat, keeping his arms around him- pulling him close by whatever article he could get a grip on. Belt, lapel, whatever.  
  
"Let's- get the kids inside and settled, yeah?" He says at the ground.  
  
"Devi-" He looks up at her, which is easier, and she perks visibly. "Get them their keys and help 'em move in, please and thank you."  
  
She nods and turns to head inside. David turns his head toward Adam.  
  
"I-- Figured you could-... You know-... Stay with me. If you uh--... Wanted."

 

=*=

 

Koller looks unimpressed.  
“You were in denial, weren’t you?”  
His lips twist into a smirk and he uses the moment to unhook himself from the embarrassment of touching him earlier, “Prichaaaaaaard common man, really?”  
  
Oh, Malik likes this one.  
  
“Ohhh yeah he was,” She wraps her arm around his shoulder a little too tightly and pulls him into her side, “God I’ve _missed_ you, Pritch. You’re already starting with the, ‘lets be an asshole for no fucking reason other than fuck, i don’t know, my own insecurities’ charade.”  
  
She shakes him a bit and lets go of him, “Thank fuck our places are right next to each other, right?” Malik can’t help but to clap him on the shoulder, firmly.  
  
Václav winces and whines, hand flying up to curl against the back of his skull plate. “Hey-!” he shoots Pritchard a half-hearted glare, “I felt that shit in my teeth, jackass.” It melts into something pitiful and tired, a pout.  
  
Malik pops Pritchard upside the head in retaliation.  
  
Adam can’t help but to smile as he looks back at them. Balled into everything familiar - relieved that Koller looked as if he was going to fit in just fine with what remained of Sarif Industries. he sways them gently as Sarif wraps his legs around him and strokes that hand through his hair. sweetly now. gentle. soft. Loving, so loving.

David presses his mouth to his pulse and Adam sighs through his nose, he wonders if he can feel it thundering under his lips. He tries to bring himself back down, tries to edge off the high of having David back in his arms but he  
  
doesn’t want to.  
  
he does eventually let David climb down from him, feet back on the ground and a little steadier now. just a little. Adam still keeps a hand on him, finding himself unwilling, unable to let go fully right now, he  
  
doesn’t _want_ to.  
  
But he nods, looking back at the three, “sounds like a plan.”  
  
Devani hums low in her throat, nodding at Devi; she’ll stay behind to assist Sarif, keep close to him until she gets him home. Then, she figures, that she’ll leave to assist her sister.  
  
Adam...gives him a tired smile. He wraps his arm around the back of Sarif’s shoulders and presses another soft kiss to the top of his head, “of _course_ i want to, David.”

 

=*=

 

David had grinned at himself. Did you expect him to say no?  
  
He gives Adam a tug at the belt to bump their hips together as he leads them across the airfield and inside.  
  
He'd talk the whole time. Something about Nirvana Condominiums, how a friend of his got him here via recommendation and how it's just _so_ exclusive and that he's so happy Adam is here; Can't wait to show him the view from the den, kitchen and the bedroom; And how he needs to go put his suit coat away and then he'd show him--  
  
He'd unlock the door and step in, still talking, his voice eventually muffling as he hurriedly trotted further in in order to lessen the time spent not _touching_ Adam.  
"Oh, and- Heh- I ah- have something of yours! Well- a lot of...yours... But I have--"  
  
He eventually appeared again, toting Adam's old leather coat, which he presented with two hands. It had been kept oiled and was quite good as new. David looked proud of himself.  
  
Behind him- the space was about as neat as one would expect, having seen his home in Detroit. But it was, perhaps, a little more minimalist even than before.  
  
A little less white and gold and a little more black and grey. Hopefully not to mirror his mood.  
  
He'd shove the jacket into Adam's arms before grabbing one of them and pulling him further inside.  
  
"You're going to love it here, son, I promise. I-- You know- what's mine is yours." Always was. Always will be.  
  
"What can I get you?"

 

=*=

 

Adam can’t help but to smile?  
Yeah, smile.  
Something subtle but warm as David prattles. Runs on and run and on and Adam nods every so often, mostly listen but just - enamored. His eyes soften, fond. He squeezes David’s hip and walks close to him, letting him walk them to the condo.  
  
There’s a flash of disbelief in the simple idea of David thinking that Adam might have not wanted to stay with him. Though, two years is a -- a long time. So much has happened - David’s fallen such a far height from where he used to be. But, Adam had a feeling his wings could hold both their weights.  
  
Yeah.  
  
He nods to himself as they walk in and Adam. well.  
Adam takes in a slow, smooth breath and exhales sharply. His chest burns a bit with the ache and he’s thankful for the reminder that _yes_ this is reality and he’s here. _here_. he’s here with David.  
  
He’s here.  
  
“Hm?” He comes back as David stumbles over his words in excitement about having something of his and then disappearing. He takes the moment to looks around, shrugging off his current jacket and moving to hang it up neatly - tidy. he smooths out the arms and feels some of the earlier tension and excitement ease from his shoulders. Adam glances around and  
  
this is - darker than he remembered Sarif liking. he tilts his head thoughtfully and his canine catches his lower lip. Adam wonders if it’s intentional, or not. If Sarif had really felt so defeated that he surrounded himself with -

he runs his fingers over his jacket again before hesitating and pulling off his boots, flexing his toes and curling them against the hardwood. It really was a beautiful place though, Sarif knew how to pick them. It felt a little chilled, but it felt like home.  
  
Sarif felt like home.  
Maybe Adam would help breathe some life into this place; he missed the royalty of the gold, the white. everything fluid and bright. How it reflected in Sarif’s eyes, how it curled and coiled and writhed.  
  
Ah...he’s missed him.  
  
Adam startles from his thoughts as Sarif shoves the jacket into his arms and he recognizes it immediately, having been disappointed to not find it in the boxes that had followed him to Prague - one of his favorites. Actually, _the_ favorite. Something commissioned, he had waited on this one for quite awhile.  
  
It had been through hell with him.  
As has…  
  
He looks up as Sarif drags him and his chest feathers warm. He actually kept it oiled, kept it clean. neat. Adam squeezes the leather gently in his hands and - Oh. He’s _missed_ him. He didn’t think anyone could bury so close to his sleeping heart but -  
  
_What can I get you?_  
  
He, hesitates. Adam gently sets the jacket aside to hang off the back of a nearest chair - taking care to make sure it sits properly, before turning to wrap an arm around him. his fingers claw gently against Sarif’s well-dressed hip and he seems to sigh in relief.  
  
“Just you,” he bumps their foreheads together before catching him in a passionate kiss - colored kingly, colored gold.

 

=*=

 

David wrung his hands into his own palms as he watches Adam look over the coat he'd been taking care of.  
  
He could almost cry- but this time he stopped himself- from the feeling of returning it. He thought he never would. Up until now it had been one of the only things he had that felt like Adam.  
  
So much like him that he could almost, _almost_ forget that he was dead and gone forever.  
  
Oh, David, cut it out. He's here now. Stop thinking about that now!  
  
Adam grabs him with an arm and- David leans against him immediately.  
  
'Just you,'  
  
He flushes and tries to look away- but the promise of a kiss kept his attention forward and he returns it. It's not enough for him. He turns toward him fully and hooks his arms under Adam's to pull him tight.  
  
"Nnph." He hums, hand pressing to his back and- dragging down- memories come to remind him of Adam's body- his beauty. It spurs him to push against him a little harder, fingers pressing insistently into his spine.  
  
He closes his eyes- pushes- drags a hand down to his belt and under it to find the hem of his shirt to pull it up a few inches.  
  
David, calm... His hands ease their pressure and he pulls his mouth away long enough to apologize.  
  
"Sorry-" He breathes. "Ah- I-.." Haven't seen you in two years.  
  
"Thought-" I'd lost you forever.

That's why I can't help but touch.  
  
He gives Adam a doe-eyed stare, fingers curled in his clothes. He wishes he could say- Hey, son, look at what I've done for you while you've been gone! The company's better than ever!  
  
Instead he was. Well. Here. The dream was a distant glimmer. He felt like he'd been sifting through sand- a fleck of gold slipped through his fingers and now he has an entire desert in which to find it.

 

=*=

 

It felt  
right, to have David pressed so close again. As if some deep storm in him had began to quell - the swirling motion seeme to dissipate, he felt he could stand on his own two feet without some dizzying spell.  
  
He brings a hand up to curl through the back of his hair and cup his head firmly, pulling Sarif further into the kiss. he sighs through his nose, shaky, content in the limbo of the few moments that pass.  
  
Adam’s stomach curls and tightens in the slightest bit at the fingers that find his spine and oh - that was nice. He’s been - embarrassed at being so touch starved. He had been spoiled before. In finding it gone, it made him sick, a touch of insecure. Adam had managed to get enough out of Pritchard to remain mostly level, thankful that the hacker was at least willing to put up with it. It had still unsettled him - his skin crawled with the urge and scraping desire but only from Sarif.  
  
Even on nights where he found his belly and hips full of heat, a hand wrapped around himself, and stroking - it only bit back the feeling before it bit back worse. worse. radiating to a flush in his neck and chest and he -  
  
was just happy to be _home_ , now.  
  
He perks as David’s hands drift lower and he’s almost ashamed at how quickly the arousal comes to simmer - but no, no he pulls his hands away and starts to apologize and Adam touches their foreheads together as he catches the hand and pulls it back to rest against his stomach.  
  
Adam shakes his head.  
Don’t worry about it.  
Don’t apologize.  
Please touch me.  
So many other people have and -

His own hands come to curl back around them, between them, fingers smoothly working to pull David’s shirt loose and start to unbutton it in full. wants to touch. wants to feel - he wants that _warmth_ , despite the drone of the Indian sun. His fingers drag back up once they’ve unfastened the last and roll down the front of the shirt, the fabric. smoothing it out. with care.  
  
Adam wasn’t going to apologize -  
He’s _missed_ him.  
He wants this.  
  
He knows Davis does, too.  
  
His fingers drop down to creep across Sarif’s stomach, back across his hips. the tips of them curling towards the base of his spine. pressing gently. a little more firmly as they spider up.  
  
Adam Jensen tilts his head up to press a soft kiss between David’s eyes, letting his lips linger there for a moment. “Let me take care of you,” he rumbles softly as he leans in, just a little further - tilting his head to press another soft kiss to the top of his ear, “ _Please_ David.”  
  
It sounds less like a question and more imploring for cooperation.  
  
Don’t fight me.  
Let me show you how much I love you.  
How much I’ve missed you.  
  
I need this,  
and I know you do too.

 

=*=

 

David makes a face; A touch nervous. His hand clasps over the bottom buttons of his shirt as Adam had begun to undo them.  
  
His fingers curl around the hems and he swallows, glancing down between them. It wasn't that he didn't...Want that.  
  
But so much had changed since then. _So_ much. He wanted to tell Adam that he wasn't the same, infallible, impressive David Sarif the world used to adore. Who had everything. He was actually pretty pathetic.  
  
A compound fracture he'd apparently been recovered with led to him replacing the arm. Both of them, in the end.  
  
And more than a few bruises were there to remind him (Damnit- Adam, Don't look!) that the world hated him. Why did you go outside, David? You remember what happened to Ortiz from Isolay. Idiot.  
  
But Adam kisses him between the eyes and he furrows his brows; Could nearly melt in his hands. His familiar scent surrounded his senses when he'd lean in to kiss his ear and he-- Relents.  
  
He loosens his grip on his shirt and lets Adam smooth it down while he would tug it from under his belt.  
  
He sighs heavily from his nose and leans closer- pressing his face into the man's neck- gingerly putting his lips to his pulse, exploratory, testing.  
  
Yeah.  
  
He needed this. He could get drunk on this.

He makes a small noise against his throat and kisses a little more roughly, fingers burying against Adam's waist- catching his shirt and pulling a few folds into his grip and pulled him close.  
  
"God- I missed you." He says into his neck, comedically muffled.  
  
He breathes against him as he becomes aware of Adam's hands at his own spine and pressing. Oh- he likes that; Arching his back an inch or so. He could feel it at the back of his neck.  
  
God, and how he missed his hands.

 

=*=

 

Adam moves slow, he can sense David is a touch of nervous. hued soft and silver in the light, but Adam is familiar with the feeling.  
  
He recalls it - so long ago when this had started between them.  
When Adam found himself under Sarif and he didn’t know what to do with his hands and he was chewing and chewing and, he remembers. He remembers lying in bed after the exchange and feeling the way his thighs trembled. the way the skin ached, dull and cold as the sentinel had murmured everything sweet to him. soothed him.  
  
Sleep wasn’t exactly difficult, but he kept thinking what this would change. What had he done? That had to be something about sleeping with the boss in the employee rule book. Would it be awkward? Would Sarif bring it back up?  
  
Why was the anger still there?  
  
He would come to find it would remain until he had confronted the man in his apartment, the world burning beyond them and Adam only bared about the burning in his veins. his muscles. synthetic. organic. tell me you care, tell me the truth.  
  
Adam -- there’s still things he wanted to talk about, but that could wait. He was hungry, insatiable. he wanted noise, he wanted skin. his fingers drop down to slip beneath the shirt and press to his spine again - taking his time as he traces up each dip, each nestle of bone.  
  
His eyes soften as he works them both up to his shoulders and curls his fingers against the melding of skin and alloy. he pulls in a slow breath and shifts his hands to pull the shoulders of the shirt back, dipping down to press a kiss to each one.

Oh, how things had changed.  
  
_But change didn’t have to be bad._ his fingers circle against his arms gently, feeling. testing. squeezing gently, appreciating the lack of give. he bumps their heads together and swallows tight in his throat. “Come here, David,” He says gently, pulling his arms back and out,  
  
to instead curl them against him - and if allowed, picking him up and off the ground to press against his chest. He wanted to move them - he had caught sight of the bruises and their presence now prickles him hot, cold. a mingling of the two that needles down his spine. The white floral shirt bunches and Adam looks down at him -  
  
a type of sad-fond.  
  
i’m here for you, now.  
  
If someone thought they could drag them apart again -  
Well, Adam would give a terse, bitter laugh before proving them very, very wrong.

 

=*=

 

David almost finds himself shivering under the touch, listening to Adam breath and it's as though he's in another time. Or pulled out of time.  
  
Existing in another world.  
  
He flexes his shoulders as they're bared and clings tighter to Adam- puffing out a small sigh when he feels Adam bestow a kiss to each. When had he become so--?  
  
There are fingers on his arms- exploring- testing. Like the rest of David, they were laced in gold. For something crafted with such care and pride, it was a pity they were something to be ashamed of these days.  
  
His own hand finds Adam's elbow and squeezes- not to stop him, but to feel him.  
  
He thought he'd lost these beautiful things; Wouldn't ever be able to look at them again. Or the handsome creature they were attached to. His fingers curl over the familiar shapes and grooves he'd been missing, recognizing them through his sleeves.  
  
'Come here, David,'  
  
And Sarif leans an inch back to look at him and- smirks. He wraps his arms around his neck and allows it. Why not.  
  
He'd let him on the airfield and that was nice. He'd let him now and that was nice.  
  
He's reminded of the day he'd spent tormenting his poor Adam that, by the end of it, the poor kid came easily in his hand and he had carried him off to the shower afterwards with humourous difficulty.  
  
Adam didn't seem to have much problem carrying _him_ though. He smiles against his neck.

"You sweeping me away, handsome?"  
  
He bumps the side of Adam's jaw with his forehead.  
  
He didn't care what he was doing. Right now he felt like he could spend eternity just being around him. Mumbai could be burning around him and he might not even notice if Adam was in view.

 

=*=

 

He smirks at the comment, unable to help it.  
Handsome.  
It’s been awhile since he’s heard that.  
  
It worms itself in and settles - he forgot how much he liked that. liked to hear it from Sarif. He heard it from the workers down at the Red Queen, sure. Aug fetishists? All the time. There were many of them in Prague -  
  
But oh - from David?  
  
…  
  
“How could I resist you?” He puffs out an amused laugh through his nose as he makes his way through the condo, able to easily guess where the bedroom would be nestled. He tightens his grip on Sarif and turns his head to hum against his temple his temple as he bumps him, nudging the door further open with his hip and sweeping inside.  
  
And just like David - it’s gorgeous.  
Adam’s lips twitched up into a knowing smile. He wasn’t surprised; he was just - content. He was happy. This could be home, already felt like home. He had rarely entertained the thought of settling down, settling in.  
  
But...  
  
His heels click across tile, and then the walnut elegantly encircling the bed and he breathes in. Relieved to see that at least David has been sleeping in familiar colors. White, gold. the sheets welcoming, soft. He felt at ease being here, being with him.  
  
He wanted to be close, keep close.  
He wanted to crown him again, hold his nervous hands and ease him back into the lion’s mane in which he belonged. Adam Jensen is  
  
in love? so different from Megan - he was never fond of her. he never saw himself with her longterm, she was only a linger in the moment. The name nearly bubbled up the fury he now held for her, but he taps it down.  
not here, not now.  
  
He gently turns to lay him down, hands smoothing other the shirt again before pushing it aside, open. Naked skin - something rare. David appreciated fine clothing, and fucking in it even more.  
  
But…

Adam gently slides his hands up David’s legs to part them just enough that he can move between them, mouth catching his collarbone and testing the skin beneath his lips, under the gentle press of his teeth. He pulls in a gentle sigh through his nose and his hands linger on Sarif’s thighs.  
  
The thrum of them soft, his fingers just gently testing the give of his flesh. He soon moves them - one to cup his hip, the other near blindly reaching for David’s newest addition to lace their fingers together. Palms pressing tight - Adam pins it to the bed.

 

=*=

 

David laughs. He actually chuckles and squirms in his arms as Adam easily navigates the flat. Alright- yeah. Things could be okay.  
  
He listens to that familiar blunt tap of Adam's heels that he so, so, _so_ missed hearing. He's set gingerly on the bed and- something isn't quite right?  
  
Nothing amiss, really, but what was it that was nagging at him? Did he forget something outside? No..  
  
Was it something he wanted to say? Hrm.. No.  
  
Was it that he was looking _up_ at Adam and not down? Warmer.  
  
Adam brushes his shirt open and he's quite sure he's never felt like _this_ before. He flushes lightly, feeling his ears go hot and his hands come up between them, splaying loose over the bruises on his ribs. Damnit, Adam.  
  
He gives him a look- not quite apprehensive but not completely fearless either.  
  
His brows raise, however, making him forget all about that as Adam sidled up between his legs and his mouth, hot, found his clavicle. He sighs heavy, eyes going half-lidded as his attention is directed at the ceiling, hands turning around to pull at Adam's top instead.  
  
"Mm-- Adam." He hums, muscles in his legs flexing at the touch. He'd loosely wrap them around the other man as the hands left.  
  
One to his hip- the other to his hand and he's quick to curl his fingers around it tight. His eyes flicker sideways to look. He squeezes.  
  
Oh-.. Adam's hand. He makes a small noise and turns his head back- pressing his cheek hard against his ear, free hand pulling more insistently at his shirt, legs giving him a squeeze as if to urge him closer- or onto the bed with him.

 

=*=

 

David flushes.  
Adam’s eyes flicker up to see it - he smiles against his clavicle and hums against his skin. Swallows, throat bobbing as his stomach turns hot.  
  
...He’s missed him.  
  
Adam’s lips search down, down. Pressing softly to mirror the ports on his own chest, lingering at each point for just a moment longer than the last. He used to be angry; he used to hold so much resentment in the beginning for his black limbs. his slumbering heart - wrenched alive when wounded. his vision, plagued by a number of warnings and messages. the weapons. oh, the weapons.  
  
It had taken him a long while to untangle _Adam_ from the machine, the tools that David had given him. He was too all consumed by the act, the past, to look to the future. He had been violated - sure, but David wasn’t his enemy, never had been. He had never intended to…  
  
Adam curls his fingers against David’s hip and squeezes, a reminder. something to ground him. I’m here, _I’m here_. He’s here. We’re here. He does tilt forward though as the fingers curled in his shirt and the legs around his waist, now tightening. He rumbles out some noise and lifts his head, squeezing his fingers again before letting go.  
  
Briefly untangling to pull off his top and set it aside next to them, neatly, though he can’t find the immediate desire to fold it. It’ll be fine - he tells himself. As will he, as he moves further between David’s legs and brings both his hands up to cup his cheeks, thumbs stroking lovingly under his eyes.  
  
He presses their foreheads together and then his lips to David’s own, just letting them settle there. Adam closes his eyes and lets himself ease, brows furrowing together as he takes in the silence. consideration.  
  
One of those hands gently comes down to cup his neck, thumb pressing to the joint of his jaw, before sliding lower. lower. fingers grazing the soft skin of his belly and brushing the hair there

fluttering over his thighs again  
  
before folding over him through his pants, squeezing gently - his fingers roll over him and he swallows. this is reality. this is no longer a fever dream. a flush rolls over him, chest pink with the realization and he smiles against his lips  
  
before humming out a curious noise,  
as if asking permission.  
  
he doesn’t want to frighten him.

 

=*=

 

David adjusts his hips under Adam's grip, as if to settle in this-- new experience. Sure. He can do this.  
  
Watching Adam lean back, immediately missing the pressure of their hands together, he looks- admiringly at him as the top was discarded and set nearby.  
  
God, he looks just as good as he left him. His eyes trace the lines and muscles for a brief second before Adam nestles closer between his legs and his hands are brought close.  
  
"Ah-h--" He breathes, hands quickly clasping around those thin, elegant wrists. He presses them tighter to his own face, squeezing Adam's waist with his thighs. And he returns the kiss in earnest.  
  
The feeling; The weight of Adam between his legs is familiar and not all at once- but it's enough either way to cause a hot, pleasant needling behind his ribs and he could nearly shiver.  
  
A hand snakes down. Tracing his own body and he finds himself pressing against it-- he can't stop himself and he- lifts his body against him as it finds his length through his trousers.  
  
His eyes threaten to close and he breathes hot between them- between their mouths.  
  
"Adam-" All air. Complete adoration.  
  
His hands move up to curl around the back of the man's neck and he nibbles at a lip.  
  
A question posed through a sound and David could only squeeze him tighter, coax him closer with his legs.  
  
"Ah-.. yeah." He does finally manage. Yeah, he can do this. Whatever it is.  
  
Adam can be in charge for a little while. He trusts him.  
  
He lets a hand fall near his head, index pointing lazily to one of the minimalist end-tables near the head of the generously-sized bed.  
  
He grins. That's what you want, right?

 

=*=

 

“David,” he echoes back, just as adoringly. the fondness in his eyes to match, shimmering in the low lighting. the city of Mumbai bustled just outside of the apartment and Adam could care less about her, care less about where he rests his head at night.  
  
As long as it’s with Sarif.  
That’s all he needs, that’s all he’ll need.  
  
He’s been so hesitant to solidify his feelings, himself. He’s been scared of being hurt. Again. Worse. Used. Abused.  
  
But.  
  
He knows, now. Almost losing him once opened his eyes - Adam never wanted to lose him again. Never even wanted to entertain the thought. He sighs through his nose and his eyes follow the curve of Sarif’s finger - through sheer will he manages to untangle himself long enough to open the drawer and fetch what he’s looking for.  
  
It rests gently on the bed next to his shirt as he brings his hands to unbutton and work down Sarif’s pants _and_ underwear - fuck it. He was just going to pull it off anyways. He stops for a moment to admire his warm hips, his stomach. fingers splaying across them softly  
  
eyes flickering up to the bruises dotting his ribs.  
  
he doesn’t linger much on them - he doesn’t want to embarrass David in the middle of intimacy and break the confidence and love he’s trying to thread back through him. He wants to see him bloom, not wither under something Adam knows he considers weakness.  
  
Adam makes the decision that he’ll ask later.

Instead, he offers a simple, “I’ve missed you _so much_.”  
  
Adam reaches back towards his shirt and rolls his hand as he fidgets, using his other to slide back up his chest. feathering over his ribs. fingers stroking across his nipple along the way. circling momentarily before coming back up to cup his cheek - thumb brushing his lower lip.  
  
He wants to say so much more.  
He wants to tell David how hard it was without him.  
All the details are lost as he brings his slicked fingers over and wraps them around his cock - stroking once, twice. cradling it close to his palm and squeezing, the pad of his thumb circling the tip.  
  
“Apparently you’ve missed me too,” a lighthearted, rumble of a laugh. he rolls his thumb up along the underside of him and holds the pressure a moment before dropping down, brushing against a thigh and  
  
his fingers press and catch, a moment of pause before he’s slowly curling two into him. steady and insistent, to the knuckle. he brushes his fingers against David’s cheek and smiles, his thumb resting at the corner of his mouth.

 

=*=

 

David made a content hum at the back of his throat as Adam answered.  
  
Watches him pull away to fetch.  
  
He takes the moment to put his toes on the heels of his shoes and slide them off one at a time. They made a blunt noise as they fell and he grins at Adam when he returns with the trinket.  
  
And immediately goes for his trousers and underwear- which he helps to wiggle himself out of, setting that all aside with Adam's own discarded top.  
  
He watches his eyes as they briefly take note of his bruises. It's fine- he didn't blame him for looking. He has something else to focus on, provided generously in the form of Adam's hand on his belly and hips.  
  
He likes that-- and he reaches down to take his wrist in a gentle grip and press down harder- lifting into the touch.  
  
He sighs into the air when Adam mentions missing him.  
  
Hmph... Yeah- I... I missed you too.  
  
His other hand follows the onyx one up his body. Oh- he's going to be set on fire like this-  
  
"H-mnn-- Ahh," He gasps as it finds a nipple, flexing  under the touch- lifting into it and he's-- flushed.  
  
A bit of embarrassment and he's pinching his eyes shut- curling his fingers over the hand on his face.  
  
"Adam--!" He breathes-- a hand on his cock- Oh, god, he's not giving me a damn break, here.  
  
David's legs lift around him, toes curling as he squirms against the touch- the squeeze.

"Mmphhh.." He makes a face at the playful accusation, dipping his chin against his own chest. "Yeah..." He admits. No news to either of them.  
  
His hands slid to the bed and loosely grip the sheets as Adam tormented him. He sighs as the pressure finally lets up and he's--  
  
"MmmnnOh- god-" He gasps- tightening both around Adam's fingers and his own in the bedsheets.  
  
"Fu-" He drops his head back- eyes on the ceiling for a moment. The only thing keeping this from becoming a pleasant, but dreamlike haze, is the hand on his face- reminding him to-  
  
Direct his attention back on Adam. His eyes flicker back down in time to catch the smile- Fuck, he's so cute, David thinks.  
  
He brings a hand up to curl around the one on his face.

 

=*=

 

Adam feels the heat prickle behind his ears at David’s _noises_.  
Oh.  
_Oh_.  
  
He likes that.  
  
When David arches him into his touch Adam pushes back, on his hips and stomach as wordlessly instructed. Absolutely gorgeous, Adam had to glance down and watch. just fucking watch him arch and writhe.  
  
This was something new - something to settle into. He loved it, but he was used to Sarif’s weight pressed lovingly between his legs, on top of him, inside of him. He wasn’t used to touching Sarif so sensually, with this much meaning and purpose. Something had shifted in their time apart, something had shifted _closer_. Darrow had tried to kill them and had only thread them stronger. blood. red and shuddering, shimmering.  
  
a lull in the darkness.  
Adam would never lose sight of it again.  
  
“Dave,” he hums softly, curling his and then relaxing them as he feels Sarif tighten around them. letting him ease to the sensation. He smiles to himself as he watches his fingers claw at the sheets. jerk, and pull. He was so animated, true to his usual nature, even in bed - even under Adam and put into a position that he knew had to be somewhat foreign to him.  
  
When he feels the moment is right, he works back the fingers and adds a third - feeling it slide in without much resistance. To the knuckle. pressed together at first and then parted slow, wide. turned. curled. a wet sound and he’s pulling them back, pushing them back in. This is intoxicating, listening to him. watching him.

He hooks his fingers over the hand that comes to rest on top of his on David’s face. laces them. “Look at me,” he soothes softly, “I’m right here, love.” squeezes their fingers together. Brushes his thumb against his bottom lip again as he adds a fourth, swallowing twist as he gets them pressed in completely and lets the weight rest. lets it linger. curling them slowly, up. stroking firm, but thoughtfully.  
  
Adam just -  
  
He pulls his fingers back and out, reaching towards himself to unbutton his own, work them down his hips just enough to expose himself. Huffing short through his nose, he wraps his fingers around himself and gives a quiet groan - eyes still furrowed in concentration.  
  
The heat blooms in his thighs and he’s moving back closer between his legs, untangling their fingers and bringing that hand down to lift him by the hip. He needs this, wants this. He just -- he-  
  
Adam pushes into him, fingers offering to guide him. He pulls his hand back when he’s about halfway in and wipes it down his pants just out of reaction. he can always clean them later - it didn’t matter.  
  
What did matter was leaning over Sarif with the motion of hilting fully in him, cupping his cheeks, and kissing him with all of his murmuring heart to swallow those god damn beautiful noises.  
  
The needy pounding in his chest isn’t anxiety - this is thrill.  
This is _love_.

 

=*=

 

The idea that distance makes the heart grow fonder crossed David's mind a few times. And there's no greater distance than death.  
  
But Adam was alive again, here, and oh- was David's heart _ever so_ fond.  
  
Any foreign feeling of their roles reversed was assuaged completely by the feeling of champagne fizzling in his chest- Hearing Adam say his name brings it to roil, pleasantly turbid under his heart and he's--  
  
Arching his back off the bed any time Adam curls his fingers, adds another or twists them-  
  
"Ahh-oh. Mmnf-fuc-..Fuck." He gasps, closing his eyes- listening to the sound between them- and the quiet sound of Adam's arms in locomotion. Ohh- one of his favourites.  
  
He feels his fingers taken up in Adam's and- he does look at him. In something of a love-drunk haziness.  
  
He doesn't answer directly, but his brows knit into a gentle frown and his breathing is hard as he tightens his grip on Adam's fingers; Other hand mirroring in the sheets on the other side of his head.  
  
He parts his lips to feel the thumb on them- but the subtle motion is broken as another finger is added and he groans, lifting his back.  
  
And then Adam is stroking and he--

"Nhhaa-h-..Nn-" He trails into a whine. Something he immediately became self-conscious of but doesn't stop.  
  
He just gives Adam a look as he had pulled his fingers away to do his thing. David settles back on the bed and- after a few moments, finds himself squirming a little- wanting more.  
  
He squeezes Adam with his thighs and allows him to pull his hips from the bed- He watches him- glances down- looks back up.  
  
"Aahh- Ha- Ohhhh-f,-- Mmm-! Mm."  
His eyelashes flutter as Adam pushes in, before he settles on keeping his eyes open so he doesn't need to miss a moment. He returns the kiss, hands quickly leaving the bed in favour of curling around the back of his neck and pulling him down.  
  
He lifts his body up and- fuck- He's lost forever to this.

 

=*=

 

Adam thinks he’s simply addicted.  
Adam never wants to let him go.  
  
David pulls him closer with his thighs, his legs and Adam is enamoured. The flush hot on his chest, spidering down into his chest and up into his head as he kisses the ever loving fuck out of David Sarif.  
  
He accepts his place in the universe - who knew it would be here? Who knew the man to keep by his side was Dave; he would have never guessed it upon hiring. Not even after the first time they slept together - Adam hadn’t been thinking that far ahead.  
  
Now he’s fever-dreaming about settling in and down, all the little things to be done. All the big things that needed to be tackled, needed to be torn apart, and built back up. Those could wait, though. At least for awhile - he wanted. David. Simply.  
  
And he didn’t _want to let him go_.  
  
their foreheads touch as they kiss, Adam presses tight and settles himself against him - still for a few moments before pulling back. letting David feel the slow drag of his dick before rolling back to meet his hips. Something slow, simple. a reminder. a scatter of heat across his lower back and thighs and it  
  
thunders into his stomach and mounts. and mounts.  
  
“Let me hear you,” he murmurs against his lips as he pulls back for a breath, quickening his thrusts, leaning closer and allowing them to be a little more shallow - though still just as deep. Their lips just barely touch and he swallows tight, throat bobbing as he chokes back a noise of his own.  
  
He brushes his thumbs under his eyes against and smooths them down his cheeks, “You’re gorgeous.” Adam can’t help it, melting into the heat and keeping there. Keeping _here_ with him.

Adam lets one of his hands drop from his cheek, fingers pausing on their way down to circle the nipple he had avoided contact with earlier. His thumb finds the nub and rolls, catching between it and his forefinger. Adam gives a rumble that sounds akin to a purr - a crackle in his chest.  
  
The hand comes to rest around David’s cock, squeezing gently and then a little more firm as he strokes, tilting his head to smile adoringly against his lips.

 

=*=

 

David's eyes almost roll up- but he's quickly training his attention back as Adam got close enough to press their foreheads together.  
  
He returns the kiss with a small sound through his nose-- hips flexing as the man began to move in him. Oh, he could hardly stand it... He pants into the air between them, fingers gently gripping his neck.  
  
The request for noise makes him flush and he's pulling Adam further over him as well.  
  
"Nnngah-h...h--" Adam sped up; Gets him deep and he feels himself unravel under him.  
  
"Oh-h- God..! Adam-.." He answers the not-a-question about his looks. He'd never heard that from Adam before...? He brought a hand down to curl around one of those onyx wrists-- the gentle touch under his eyes has him spiraling.  
  
One vanishes, finding itself on his chest and--  
  
"Aah-"  He writhes, lets his eyes close as he lifts his chest from the bed and squeezes Adam with his legs.  
  
"Mmmm!" He grunts, curling forward at the hand to his cock and he hooks his arms around his shoulders, clinging tight.  
  
Adam seems to almost purr- David gasps-- leaning in to give a gentle bite at his chin- eyes opening to watch him with clear adoration.  
  
Maybe a little love-drunkenness.

 

=*=

 

“There you go…”  
  
He mutters at the noises, pressing another kiss to the side of his mouth and humming low. low. knitting his brows together as he closes his eyes and half loses himself in the heat. his thighs tremble in the slightest as he picks himself back up from slipping further into the molten gold - he didn’t want to sink yet.  
  
Adam could hold out - he needed to see David absolutely lose himself.  
It was far past wanting.  
Far, far past wanting.  
  
He squeezes his cock again and strokes him firm, circling him with his thumb and swiping at the gathering of pre that’s all but rolled down and over his knuckles. hot. distinct. Adam presses down firm against his slit and then tugs, teeth catching his cheek at the beading that follows - fuck. He was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful - Adam wanted to keep telling him. Wanted to fuck it into him that he was still gorgeous, and wholly Sarif.  
  
They could rebuild, that was the easy part.  
It would have been harder if someone had died -  
  
Adam could lift him, that’s what Sarif had built into him, right? Let my hands be the steady ones, for once. It’s okay, you’re allowed to rest. I’ll carry us for awhile.  
  
“Fuck,” his hips stutter as the heat floods back at the exclamation of his name - Oh, he _missed_ him. He grins out of reaction at the bite to his chin and it earns Sarif a harder, firmer roll forward. A wet noise as he sinks deeper - holds himself there. He shifts and hovers over him, closer.  
  
Cantering his hips in short, deep, shallow thrusts. “Come on David,” he’s stroking his hand down to squeeze at the base of his cock and ease backup - slicked by his own pre and earlier lube. He’s close, but he wants Sarif to fall apart first. Wants him overwhelmed, wants him to feel like he’s on top of the world again -

Even if only for a fleeting while.  
  
“I’m here,” He bumps their foreheads together, fingers curling under his eye and thumb against his jaw, “I’m _yours_.” A heated promise, but he meant it, “ _Nobody_ will harm you again.”  
  
Not if he had anything to say about it.  
The Panther’s jaw crinkles possessively, his sleek black limbs shimmering in the low light of the swollen sun.

 

=*=

 

David's head was alight with Adam's voice- the feel of his body between his legs.  
  
An entirely pleasant weight.  
  
He could feel himself drip on his own belly as Adam worked him over and he's squirming in ecstasy.  
  
"Nnnm!"  
  
God, he missed him. He couldn't believe he was here. _Here_ . He watches him hazily, fingers flitting with no solid direction over Adam's back as he hugged him, but they'd press flat to the collection of metal ports and stroke.  
  
Adam shifts further over him after he'd nibbled at his chin and gives him a maddening roll of his hips, eliciting a cry of pleasure from David, whose heels were pressed insistently to Adam's lower back.  
  
"Nnn-Oh, god! Ohhh--" He squirmed under him and could feel himself becoming undone under Adam's ministrations.  
  
His eyelashes flutter when he hears his voice again, hands dragging back over Adam- coming to rest on his jaw, mirroring the pretty black ones on his own face.  
  
He pulls their foreheads tighter together as he gasps, rolling his hips gently against Adam- dropping his legs a little lower to curl around his as he lifts his back to arch.  
  
He breathes airily- closing his eyes to lose himself to the feel of Adam's body- to have him close.  
  
He'd long forgotten how- heh- strange it was to look up at him like this.  
  
"Fu-Mm-! Ohhh..Ah-" He moans, ecstatic, fingers curling against his skin as he is, finally, undone- making a bit of a mess between them.  
  
His legs squeeze Adam close and he doesn't let him go- panting heavily into the air.  
  
He swallows- squirms a little and whines quietly, a hand dropping from Adam to cover his own flushed face.  
  
"Mmphhhh." He groans.

 

=*=

 

David’s heels press tight to his back and he can feel him squeeze and he knows he’s close, knows he’s almost to the point of falling apart.  
  
He keeps his hand to stroke over him, taking pleasure in the throb against his palm and that he can bring Sarif to this point. That he can fuck him just as well, that he can love him just as well.  
  
white sheets  
white sheets  
no longer echoed back to body bags but to bodily fluid. fascination. laced with gold and the conquer of kings. knighted. Adam knows that they can steal the crown back - he knows he can snatch it with steady fingers and they can build and build and build and  
  
white sheets  
white sheets  
stacked with stock and binary - blueprints and the basics. scribbles of something new, something better. He believes in him, them. The ocean had sung sweet to his bones, had lulled him into sleep in it’s rocking arms. He no longer felt her chill - he no longer felt the ice that had been sewn, lodged into his guts and left to fester.  
  
Instead he had touched the sun - burning up.  
Too close, too close.  
Icarus laughed, and flexed his alloy wings.  
  
David cries out beneath him and Adam can feel him pulse steady and firm in his grip. He strokes across the tip of him with his thumb and closes his eyes. pinching them tight as he gives a soft noise of his own and buries deep  
  
the heat in his thighs flaring, barbed. barreling up his spine and down his thighs. Oh, god he’s _missed_ him. David’s legs prevent him from pulling back, out - not that he’d want to, anyways. Though he appreciates their weight, appreciates _him_.  
  
Adam hovers over him, resting his soiled hand on David’s belly and splayed wide. Not wanting to ruin the sheets - he just wanted to lay with him after this and bask in the afterglow of the Indian sun. Glaring red, though soft.

“David,” he says soft, and low - breathy and a near rumble in his throat, “I love you.” He knows, He knows David knows but in the warm hue of passion, Adam can’t help but to remind him, reassure him.  
  
Revel in him -  
Revel in his King, his sun.

 

=*=


End file.
